James Forrester is one of the most well known students at Northport High, making waves with his Junior class presidential campaign and wrestling career. I sat down with him to discuss the campaign trail, his favorite US presidents, and other trivia.

First, I asked James to give us a quick overview of who he is, outside of his campaign.”My name is James Forrester. I do wrestling and boxing. As well as that, I enjoy reading in my free time, writing,” he continued, saying  “most of the time, I’m trying to work, you know, I’m studying. Just trying to, you know, continue to grind”.

With a hardworking attitude, it’s no wonder why Forrester decided to run for president of the class of 2027. He said his choices were based on all the different issues he faced as an underclassmen. “… whenever the bathroom thing rolled around, I realized, okay, well, I need to see if I can help.” He is referring to, of course, the bathroom ban of 2025. Recently, bathroom restrictions have tightened again after the use of racist language by vandals in the lower K-wing boy’s bathroom. Issues like these are pertinent to our student body. 

 After this I questioned whether he learned any lessons from the presidential race, despite him losing the election. “Patience and leadership are the two things that I mostly was able to take away from this. I think later on in life, that’ll really help me because of what I want to do. I want to join the military.”.  I questioned deeper into his campaign, asking whether he had any big campaign goals that he didn’t mention in his speech, he responded saying “I was thinking about, like, potential field trips for the class. But I didn’t want to make that promise yet because I wasn’t aware if it would be possible. Yeah, it’s not a, you know, you can’t promise anything like that.” 

.My next question was a little bit more introspective, asking him what his proudest moment of life was, and in response he said that being able to run for president was his highest honor in his life. This demonstrates that the presidential race was not just a power grab for James but rather a lifelong dream. 

Finally, I asked him some fun, trivia questions which I asked him quickfire style. 

Q: Favorite president?

A: Woodrow Wilson, I admire his 14 points. 

Q: Batman or Superman?

A:  Superman, he inspires hope in people, as opposed to Batman, who just beats people up. 

Q: Favorite band? 

A: Tie between The Rolling Stones and Queen. 

Q: Most Memorable Meal?

A: Costco chicken pot pie.

Q: If you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

A: This sounds cliche but Jesus Christ.

James Forrester was a pleasure to interview and sit down with, I look forward to seeing what he does next, both in and out of the school. He is an interesting guy, funny, and passionate about many things. Whatever James sets his sights on next, I’m Sure it will have an impact on Northport in a big way.